Micheál Martin says Government cannot ‘wave a magic wand’ on flood schemes
By Claudia Savage, Press Association
The Government cannot “wave a magic wand and just deliver” flood relief schemes, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said, as he visited affected homes and businesses in Co Wexford.
Mr Martin met residents of Island Road, Enniscorthy, an area that was badly hit by flooding in recent weeks after the River Slaney burst its banks during Storm Chandra.
He told one that the Government is “determined to do a number of short-term measures first” to alleviate the impact of flood damage.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Martin said it was “a soul-destroying experience to have your house flooded or your business flooded, and there has been a pattern here over many decades of flooding at this location”.
“Our objective is first of all to provide humanitarian support to the families and also supports to the businesses that have been impacted,” he said.
“Secondly, the Office of Public Works (OPW) will work with the local authority in respect of interim measures to try and protect these houses and this location more generally and there are interim measures that can be taken to provide that protection and that reassurance, and that we will do.
“Obviously, then, thirdly, the substantial, comprehensive scheme itself will be submitted for planning and it is complex, all of these schemes are, but nonetheless, we want to get that started.”
On Sunday, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers acknowledged that the delivery of flood relief schemes in Ireland has been “too slow”.
Asked if there was any way the Government could “expedite” flood relief schemes, Mr Martin said planning routes “have to be gone through, there’s no question”.
He added: “We’ll do everything we can to speed up the progress of a scheme, going through the planning process and the design and development works itself.
“These are very comprehensive schemes. They are complex. I’m not going to try and pretend that we can wave a magic wand and just deliver them. That would be wrong to do.
“But what we can do, it’s a parallel approach, the interim measures, whilst doing everything we can to shave off time.”
Minister for Housing and Local Government, James Browne, who was with the Taoiseach, was asked if he believed Met Éireann had been “withholding” weather information last week.
He previously said the weather tracking agency needed to improve communications and he was “really frustrated that some state agencies seem to think that it’s their duty to somehow withhold information”.
He told reporters on Monday: “The phrase I used was ‘guarding’, and it was in relation to very highly technical data, in relation to flooding not weather forecasting, and I’ve met with the director of Met Eireann since then, and what we’re looking at [is] how we can, I suppose, make that data viable information that can be used.”
On Monday Met Éireann issued yellow rain warnings for counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork and Waterford
They said further heavy rain falling on saturated ground combined with high river levels and high tides will lead to localised flooding, river flooding and difficult travel conditions.
A weather advisory from them said: “Spells of heavy and persistent rainfall will continue through the week of February 2, particularly in southern and eastern coastal counties.
“Rain will fall on saturated ground where river levels are high with high tides expected this week. This will lead to further flooding along rivers and in coastal areas.”
